Earlier this week, Snapchat introduced Snap Map,
an opt-in function that allows you to share your location with your
friends on a map. Snapchat’s introduction video to Snap Map, seen above,
focuses on sharing the location of posted Snaps to Our Story, which is
public, and could be useful for, say, seeing a collection of Snaps from a
particular event.
But what Snapchat doesn’t tell you in the video, or in
the app, is that if you aren’t careful, Snap Map will broadcast your
exact location to anyone on your friends list every time you open the
app.
When you update Snapchat and get to the Snap Map
walkthrough, as seen below, only three screens need to be clicked
through to complete it. Though it mentions sharing your location, it’s
vague on what that exactly means. Users might not understand that Snap
is posting your location on Snap Map every time you open the app. Not
just when you share Snaps to Our Story.
When I first opened Snap Map, I saw the Bitmoji for one
of my friends in a residential area. I presumed this was her home, and
was able to zoom in close enough to estimate where she lived on that
particular block. Then I called her. “This is a weird question,” I said,
“but do you live at the intersection of X and Y? More
particularly, one of these addresses?” I rattled off three house
numbers on the street closest to where her Bitmoji appeared on Snap Map.
One of them was correct. I’ve never been to her house.
Turned out, she didn’t know she had Snap Map enabled, and didn’t know it was showing her location every time
she opened the app. When she updated Snap and went through the Snap Map
introduction, she believed Snap was giving the option to geotag her
Snaps for Our Story, as shown in the promotional video. Instead, she had
inadvertently broadcast where she lived to every one of her Snap
contacts.
She was understandably freaked out. “That’s so creepy!”
she said. “I don’t know why anyone would use that. I understand if
you’re at an event and checking in, but I wouldn’t want people to see
where I am at all times.”
Because Snap Map shows exactly where you are every time
you open the app, there are a number of dangerous scenarios that could
take place without a user even posting a Snap publicly. What if you’re
at home alone, at night, and open the app to view Snaps posted by
friends? What if you’re walking by yourself and get a ping that a friend
sent you a Snap message, so you read it? What if you’re traveling and
want to take a pic with a location-specific filter to post later on
another platform? In all of these vulnerable situations, if you have
Snap Map enabled, your location is immediately broadcast to some, or all
of the people in your Snapchat friends list.
People have been responding to the risks Snap Map poses to children
who aren’t aware of the dangers location-sharing poses, but Snap Map is
a threat for teens as well, whose parents might not know about Snap Map
and how it works. And it can also be dangerous for adults, as the
conversation with my friend proved. Not only is the consumer-facing
information for Snap Map not detailed enough, many people often agree to
updates and new settings on apps without looking at the specifics.
A Snapchat representative told The Verge,
“The safety of our community is very important to us and we want to
make sure that all Snapchatters, parents, and educators have accurate
information about how the Snap Map works.” However, the way Snap Map
currently functions and is communicated to users provides opportunity
for lurking, stalking, and other dangerous activities with real-life
consequences.
We spoke with a Snapchat representative about the
specifics of how Snap Map works. Here are details we learned that aren’t
communicated through Snapchat’s video and Snap Map walkthrough:
- If you are choosing to share your location on the Map, your location is updated every time the Snapchat app is opened.
- If a Snapchatter chooses to share their location with all of their friends on Snapchat, the app will remind them of that choice periodically to make sure they are still comfortable with this.
- Only mutual friends can see each other on the Map.
- Snapchat will delete precise location data after a short period of time. (This period of time was not specified.) Some more general location data may be retained a little longer (this time was also not specified), but the company says that is also subject to regular deletion.
- If you tap on your friend, you will see when their location was updated (i.e., 1 hour ago, 2 hours ago). Their location reflects where they last opened Snapchat.
- A friend’s location will remain on the Map for up to 8 hours if they do not open the app again, causing their location to update. If more than 8 hours has passed and a Snapchatter has not opened the app, their location will disappear from the Map entirely.
If you want to disable Snap Map, select “Ghost Mode” upon
Snapchat’s initial walkthrough. If you’ve already enabled location
sharing for Snap Map, tap the settings gear in the top right while
viewing the Map, and select Ghost Mode from there.
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